


Welcome to Hell Week, Jason Grace

by parttimedemigod (adorecas)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Embarrassment, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Frat Half-Blood, Humiliation, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild torture, Non-Consensual Spanking, Physical Abuse, Post-HoO, Psychological Torture, Sexual Humiliation, Situational Humiliation, Spanking, Torture, bi!Jason, bi!Percy, deeply repressed homosexuality included, imagine if CHB was actually a frat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-02 01:23:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10934061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adorecas/pseuds/parttimedemigod
Summary: Jason gets unknowingly volunteered for Hell Week, where Percy is gonna make him prove himself, whatever that means.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Essentially canon, but there's an underground fraternity-haze week type initiation for older male demigods. Thus, Jason gets volunteered. This is also the first time I've written in this universe, as well written anything at all in years.

Jason didn’t know what was going on, but he was just about fed up with it.

Percy had been acting so _weird_ over the past few weeks. Deliberately ignoring Jason in group conversations, going out of his way to avoid him in passing, and spending an inordinate amount of time whispering with older guys who were veterans at Camp Half-Blood. Jason didn’t want to say he was jealous, exactly, but it’s not like he didn’t have his own camp necklace! He had been here almost a whole year without Percy. Why was he being excluded now? Percy was his best friend!

He racked his brain, trying to chalk it up to Percy and Annabeth’s breakup when she decided to spend more time in New Rome than at camp. But that had been amicable. _Not that Percy would have had a choice if Annabeth had decided otherwise_ , he mused. It couldn’t be that. Was Percy mad at him for some reason? The older boy spent plenty of time talking to _Nico_ when he was around, laughing and joking like the Percy Jason remembered from the _Argo II_ , and Nico was younger even than Jason.

So _why_ was Percy suddenly being so frosty towards Jason? He cringed inwardly at his own use of the word ‘frosty’, thinking immediately of Khione and regretting it. He kept turning instead, swinging his gladius and practicing a few new moves he had taught himself from watching others. He always thought best when he was practicing sword play, and he could only get the arena to himself at night these days. Percy spent most of his time teaching the newer demigods at camp the basics of sword play. They all looked up to him with awe, as though Percy were a god himself. _Well,_ Jason thought, _he was offered immortality once._ When he had heard that story, he had been both awed and extremely jealous. But in time had come to be glad Percy hadn’t accepted that offer. Where would Jason be now if there had been no Percy upon the _Argo II?_ But right at this moment, his gladius in his hand, sweat dripping down his brow in the middle of the night, alone in the arena. Jason half wished Percy _had_ taken that offer. At least he wouldn’t be treating Jason like the scum of the Earth right now. Some best friend…

He took a few more steps, plunging and stabbing, trying to adapt his Roman training with the Greek styles he had seen (and fought against). He took another step, turning completely around, swinging his blade over his head, mimicking the way he had seen Percy do it, and his sword met another blade with a loud _CLANG_ , his Imperial gold clashing with Celestial bronze. Percy Jackson himself stood there, Riptide out, his face stony.

“Perc –“ Jason began, but before he could get a single word out, the shadows deepened behind the older boy and Nico stepped out of them, his face equally harsh.

“Jason Grace, put down your ridiculous Roman blade.”

Nico’s voice was a sharp and cold as ice. Jason faltered, wondering how he had managed to offend two of his closest male friends quite so suddenly and, apparently, badly. He reflexively brought his blade back down to his side, taking a small step back. Percy quickly capped Riptide, slid it back into his pocket, and lunged before Jason had a chance to bring his own blade back up to defend himself. Nico was inches behind him, hands on both boys, and Jason fell through darkness.

When he finally opened his eyes, he felt like vomiting on the spot. Percy and Nico stood in front of him again, seemingly unfazed. Jason immediately tried to take stock of his situation: cold, dank stone room, obviously underground, two angry-looking demigods in front of him who were supposed to be his friends, and no doors or windows to be seen. He straightened up, glaring at Percy, who hadn’t broken his stone cold look. Percy spoke, his voice both emotionless and yet somehow condescending.

“It’s about time you proved yourself at this camp, Jason Grace. You might have gone on your little quest with Leo and Piper, but you weren’t a leader. You might have come with us on the _Argo II_ and helped stopped Gaea. You might have saved both the Roman and Greek camps, but you haven’t undergone what we all go through here. You haven’t proven yourself the way we have.”

Jason couldn’t believe his ears. Was Percy undermining all he had done over the past year? As though none of it meant anything? What was he talking about, ‘ _what we all go through here?’_

“What the _fu-_ “ Jason started, but was again cut off before he could finish a single sentence.

“You’ll speak when spoken to, Jason Grace.” Nico’s words were as equally condescending as Percy’s. Nico inclined his head at the space behind Jason. Jason half turned, not particularly wanting to lose sight of the two hostile boys in front of him. Behind him was a thin cot, a bucket on the ground, and what looked like a leaky pipe with a rusted faucet. In short, some kind of demented prison.

He turned back, ready to deck them both or electrocute someone til he got some answers, but this time. Percy was grinning. A grin that was easily the most mischievous he has ever seen out of the son of the sea god.

“You’ll stay here until we come back for you. Welcome to Hell Week, Jason Grace.”

+

Nico and Percy had disappeared backwards into shadow, leaving Jason in his tiny room alone. No, ‘room’ was too friendly. ‘Cell’ was more like it. He sat down on the cot, and immediately regretting it. It felt as solid stone as the walls around him. The thin blanket on top did nothing to soften the blow. He got back up and tried the faucet to the rusty pipe. At first the water came out brown and chunky, but Jason let it run for a few minutes, glad to see that there was a drain directly below where it emptied onto the ground. Clearly this had been thought out. At least he couldn’t accidentally drown himself in here. The water slowly cleared up until it looked fairly safe to drink. Jason didn’t drink any of course, it was just good to know he would potentially have a solution if it became an emergency. He glanced at the bucket in the corner of the room. He didn’t even want to think about needing to use that.

Instead, he was growing increasingly angrier by the minute. What the hell was going on here? Hell week? What was this, some kind of American college frat movie? Jason groaned, realizing that this might be _exactly_ like that – some kind of stupid hazing ritual that new demigods had to go through. If it was though, why hadn’t he heard about it? Was it some kind of horrible secret? Did this have something to do with why some of the guys at camp had tattoos at the bases of their necks? He had caught glimpses of a few during his time at Camp Half-Blood, but he had never thought to ask. Only now did it seem curious that they were all in the same place. It occurred to him that he had known Percy had a trident tattoo in that same location, but he assumed it was a personal thing, not a group thing.

Now he was becoming worried _he_ might have to get a tattoo there as well. If Percy had a trident, did it have to be something to do with your godly parent? He really wasn’t sure he wanted a lightning bolt tattoo. _No offense, Dad,_ he added mentally, in case Zeus was indeed watching him.

At this point, his emotions were welling up inside him at an alarming rate. He was half pissed, half freaked out, and half scared shitless.  He was too much of any of those emotions to realize he had three halves in that equation. Luckily for his brain, something happened to distract him.

Percy and Nico were back in the room, materializing out of the shadows of the corner. Jason was getting creeped out by home comfortable Percy seemed with that. He remembered the awful feeling of being sucked into a vacuum with no sound or air or light, and feeling like his was in free fall but also floating through space at the same time. He had a dark feeling he was going to have to get used to that sensation.

“Stand up, Jason.” Percy seemed considerably less hostile this time, but unfortunately wasn’t grinning just yet. Jason had half a mind to sit on his ass and do exactly the opposite of what Percy told him to do, but remembered how easily he had been snatched out of the arena by the two. Which reminded him that his gladius must still be lying right where he dropped it. Alone in the dark arena all by itself. Jason was even madder at this point – that sword was given to him by Juno! _or was it Hera? No, Juno…._ Jason shook his head to clear his thoughts.

He stood anyway, but was determined to get to the bottom of this before he was whisked away or interrupted again. “Percy Jackson I swear to-“

“Hate to interrupt bro, but I kind of have some talking to do. I promise I’ll answer your questions. If you behave,” he added, pointing at Jason’s suddenly clenched fists. Jason responded with a very forced and prolonged sigh.

“Thanks, man. So anyway, like I said, this is Hell Week.” Percy seemed to be quickly losing his confidence. “It’s uh…kind of a tradition at Camp Half-Blood. Once a camper has lasted at least a year and participated in a quest, whether they lead it or not, they go through Hell Week. Kind of to prove themselves a hero not just to the gods, but to each other. You know what it feels like to come home from a quest, tired as Hades – no offense Nico,” he added with a grin to the younger boy beside him. Nico only rolled his eyes and made a gesture like ‘please continue.’

“But yeah, imagine it from the other side. What it looks like to campers who have never gotten to go on a quest. Demigods who haven’t even been claimed yet. Demigods who have no idea what it means to risk your life a hundred times a day and still be scared out of your wits for your friends. Those kids who haven’t faced down a thousand terrors that still visit in our dreams.” Percy paused, giving Jason a few seconds to process. It dawned on him that this didn’t sound anything like what he was expecting. Sure, he knew exactly how it felt to come home to an excited camp who was overjoyed to see that he was still alive. He’d never really considered how it felt to be on the other side. He’d never been passed up for a quest before. He knew what Percy meant about the dreams too. Percy still had nightmares about Tartarus, Jason knew. He had found Percy screaming in his own bed one night and woken him up and let him calm down before staying the night in Cabin Three. That’s what friends were for.

“I know it’s tough to picture, Mr. Son of the God of All Gods, but some of us frequently get left behind.” Nico’s tone wasn’t exactly friendly, but Jason sensed the bitterness wasn’t necessarily directed at him.

“I’m sorry, Nico,” Jason said quietly, his fists finally unclenching at his sides.

“Didn’t I tell you only to speak when spoken to?” Nico’s sword swung heavily on his waist and Jason remembered he was unarmed.

“Oh, right, sorry,” he said.

“Dude. Jason. Shut up. Try not to get yourself killed please,” Percy said pointedly. “You don’t get a free pass because of your dad. In fact, that little fact might make this all worse for you.” Percy grimaced; Nico shrugged.

“Anyway, kiddo, the point of all this is to prove yourself worthy of protecting this camp. To prove that you have what it takes to lay down everything to protect the next generation of demigods. We can’t survive by flying solo.” Percy looked pointedly at Nico again, who resolutely avoided his gaze.

Jason was still stuck on the fact that Percy had called him kiddo. He was trying very, _very_ hard not to speak up or punch Percy in the jaw.

“So we figured now is a good a night as any to begin. I’m your sponsor, by the way,” Percy added, pointing his thumbs at himself in the cheesiest way possible. “I’m the one who vouched for you and made all this possible for you!” He waved his arms as though to indicate a spectacle of grandeur, but all Jason saw was a dirty prison cell. “Well, metaphorically speaking, I mean,” he added, looking nervous again. “I promise it’s great. This week is gonna suck, but it’s worth it dude. Really makes you feel like you’re making a difference.”

Jason couldn’t argue with wanting to protect future generations of demigods, but this all seemed very over the top. Like maybe some jacked up demigod from the 1980’s got jealous that he would never have an American college experience and decided to create one here at Camp Half-Blood instead.

Jason tried his best to look grateful, but it probably came out strained and more like _‘I could kill you, Percy Jackson.’_ Percy seemed to get the message and coughed awkwardly.

“Yeah. I was Nico’s sponsor too, so he’ll be helping me throughout the week. We’re basically the only people you’ll be able to talk to. And that’s only when we ask you direct questions. Got it?”

Jason gritted his teeth and nodded.

 _“Got it?”_ Percy repeated with more emphasis.

“Got it,” Jason muttered.

“Cool. Promise you won’t hate me at the end of the week!”

With that, Nico put a hand on Jason’s shoulder and they melted back into the shadow.


	2. Chapter 2

Jason spent the better part of the next few hours pacing his tiny stone cell, alternating between being completely furious with Percy Jackson, and sympathizing with this alleged “Hell Week’s” goal. Sure, he wanted people to trust him. He wished he felt more comfortable around more than just the few friends he had made on the _Argo II_. Well, Will was great. He seemed to make Nico happy, or as close to happy as a son of Hades could seem. He got along well enough with Chiron and Rachel, but they both seemed too other-worldly for him to just hang out or explore the forest with. The whole spewing of green mist from her mouth kind of ruined the whole ‘normal friend’ feel that Percy and Annabeth seemed to have with her.

But he couldn’t help feeling like this whole charade was ridiculous.

Eventually, he got tired of walking in tiny circles and sat down on the world’s most uncomfortable bed. His cell was lit with some unidentifiable glow from the walls, so he judged the room must be magical of some sort. On second thought, _where_ was this room?

Before he had a chance to wrap his mind around that, the wall in front of him sort of just, faded away into a dark hallway. Jason jumped to his feet and squinted into the darkness. He could see at least two people standing there, in dark brown robes that covered their whole bodies and faces. The two figures entered the room and stood on either side of Jason. The one to his left pulled out a simple steel sword. Nothing fancy, but enough to gut someone if used correctly. The figure used the blade to gesture towards the hallway.

Clearly, Jason was supposed to go.

Obviously, Jason had no desire to go.

He remembered how earnest Percy had seemed when he told Jason why this was happening. The look in the other boy’s eyes had seemed totally honest. Then again, Percy was an awful liar. Maybe _that’s_ why he hadn’t spoken to Jason hardly at all over the last few weeks. He was preparing for this whole event, and Percy clearly didn’t trust himself not to warn Jason ahead of time.

He was brought back to the present with the harsh slap of the flat of a blade against his left butt cheek. He jolted forward and swung around angrily at the robed figure who had assaulted his ass.

“Hey, watch i-“ Jason was rewarded for his sass with another slap of the blade, this time a good deal harder. The robed figure drew out a hand, also gloved in the same deep brown color, which proceeded to wag a single finger at him, as though to remind him he wasn’t meant to speak.

Jason was getting very tired of being interrupted.

He took a few steps forward and the hostile figure withdrew both its hand and its blade and made to follow. The other figure to his right had not moved at all since entering the room. Jason gave what seemed like his hundredth angry sigh of the day and walked forward into the darkness.

After several minutes of walking straight ahead with one arm out, hoping against hope he wasn’t going to face plant into stone and embarrass himself, the tunnel lightened and he entered another room like his cell, only slightly larger.

This room had a single bench in the middle, also made of bare stone. Against the back wall were a few sets of shackles, high enough that a guy Jason’s height would barely be able to touch the floor. To the right was another entrance like the one he had come through. Before he could turn to the left, the robed men (and Jason assumed they were men, because they were both the same height as him, with broad shoulders under the thick robes) turned him around and pushed him back so that he had no choice but sit down on the bench. He sat hard, grimacing at the second assault to his ass cheeks in a matter of minutes.

“Strip. You can leave your underwear on. Assuming you’re wearing any.”

The voice came from the one who had pulled a blade on him. Jason was momentarily stunned. He didn’t move. He was frozen in an awkward terror. This couldn’t really be happening to him, could it? He opened his mouth to protest, but before he could so much as squeak, the silver blade had reappeared, this time pointed directly at his chest.

Jason hummed what he hoped sounded like a manly response, but he was pretty sure it came out as yet another undignified noise.

He slowly pulled off his sweaty purple SPQR tee, suddenly self-conscious not only of the very Roman shirt, but also his very obvious tattoo with the same letters on it. He had never been embarrassed of it before, but this seemed like a very _Greek_ sort of thing he was going through, and he already knew people were wary of him because of his father, so the tattoo that further alienated him seemed a little out of place in this dank, dark…well, torture chamber.

He was making these realizations even as he stood to unbutton his jeans. The sword was still out, but it had been lowered enough that Jason sensed it was more for show than actual combat. At least, he sincerely hoped.

After he was down to his underwear (a pair of tight black boxer briefs), he sat back down awkwardly. The robed men seemed satisfied, as they immediately turned and left back through the tunnel they came from, taking Jason’s clothes with them. Now that he was alone, Jason was suddenly very aware of how close to naked he was. The stone bench was _cold_. The stone floor was even colder against his bare feet. He sat that way, feet pulled up off the floor, arms wrapped around himself for a few more minutes. His anxiety was rising slowly but surely. He felt like he was being watched. He couldn’t tell how or from where, but after being hunted by enough monsters, you could start to tell.

Just as he was about to get up and try heading back to his own cell ( _For what?_ he asked himself. _Security?),_ he heard footsteps coming from the hallway he had noticed earlier. Percy came into the light, alone this time. He looked serious, but as soon as he saw Jason in his underwear, he grinned widely.

“You look great, Grace.”

Jason tightened his lips together and didn’t respond.

“Seriously. I knew you were good looking, but somehow we’ve gone this long and I’ve never seen you in your underwear.” He laughed. “Well, things change. More things will change before this night is over.”

Jason did not like the sound of that, but once again did not respond. He was still processing Percy’s first comment. He could feel a strange heat coming over his face. Was he blushing? _Ugh,_ he thought, _now I look like a school girl Percy will never let me live this down._ He rolled his eyes and tried to keep himself calm. He was more worried about what on earth was happening than Percy flirting with him.

“So, first things first. Like I said, this is about proving yourself. Obviously, you’ve been on a quest before and didn’t die. A few quests, in fact,” Percy mused, looking completely unbothered. “So we know you’re tough. This isn’t just about that, though I’m sure you will prove your toughness again before tomorrow comes. This is also about making choices that are hard, or embarrassing, and doing things you would feel extremely uncomfortable doing otherwise.”

Jason was getting more nervous by the second. Fighting a few monsters he could handle, but facing his own insecurities or doing things specifically to embarrass himself? No thanks.

“I hope you’re well rested, Grace. It’s going to be a long night.”

Percy stepped right up to where Jason sat, pushing the blonde’s knees apart with his legs and coming entirely too close for Jason’s comfort. He gripped Jason by the chin and pulled him to his feet, pressing his lips firmly to the younger boy’s.

Jason’s body went rigid, his eyes wide behind his thin framed glasses. Percy quickly broke away and strode a few steps back, still grinning. “You’ll have to do better than that, Grace,” he said, crossing his arms and making a _tsk_ sound. “Give ‘em a show!”

Before Jason could wrap his mind around what Percy had done, he felt that blush coming back over him, surely tinging his cheeks a bright red. Percy looked back the direction he came, smiling at Nico, who apparently had been standing there the entire time. Jason blanched, wondering if this was going to become a frequent issue. Now neither of the boys was going to let him live down his incessant blushing at Percy’s forthcomings. Behind Nico, a few robed figures came into the light and quickly grabbed Jason by the wrists, pulling him to the back wall and strapping him into the shackles. Jason started to shout, but Percy gave him a warning look. Instead, he clench his teeth as he was strapped in, his toes barely touching the ground, making it nearly impossible to support himself.

One robed man took out a small dagger that matched the sword Jason had seen from one of them earlier. Jason immediately tried to kick out, but another of the men grabbed his legs and held him still. Afraid he was about to get stabbed to death, Jason flailed more vigorously.

“Jason. Stop moving or you’ll get hurt.” Percy’s voice was commanding enough that Jason stilled. It helped that Percy had called him _Jason_ instead of _Grace._ The man with the blade moved closer and ran the blade up Jason’s thigh very slowly. Jason wasn’t sure if this was supposed to be sexy or terrifying, because he found it a little of both. He kept his eyes trained on the blade, however, avoiding what he was sure was a smug look from Percy. The man slid the blade under the edge of Jason’s underwear, cutting clean through the fabric and leaving Jason completely naked against the wall.

If Jason wasn’t blushing before, he most certainly was now. He could feel heat blooming not just in his cheeks, but across his chest as well. This might have been the most mortifying experience he’d ever had. He almost understood how Nico must have felt admitting his crush on Percy out loud in front of Jason and a wind god. But maybe this was worse. Everyone in the room got an eyeful of Jason, from his muscular stomach to his toned legs, and everything ( _everything_ ) in between.

Jason was so mollified he wasn’t sure if he was going to survive this after all. _But,_ it occurred to him, _Percy has done this._ He set his jaw and reopened his eyes. _If Percy can do this so can I. I’m not about to let him do better than me at anything._

Perhaps this was not the best time to be a stubborn ass, but Jason and Percy had a long standing rivalry between who was better. Which of them would really win in a duel? Who was more powerful? Who was really the leader? Who could capture the flag first? Everything they did was a competition. Jason just had to view this whole ordeal as yet another competition. If Percy could do it, Jason would do it twice as well.

His demeanor must have changed because Percy raised an eyebrow.

“Is this a challenge, Jason Grace? You think you can do this just because I did it once too?” Percy laughed. Jason wasn’t sure how Percy had immediately judged his thoughts, but maybe he had seen Jason make that face before. “I’ll be sure to try _extra_ hard to break you then.”

Jason grinned back, his first smile since the arena several hours ago. In response to his sass, Percy made a clenched fist with one hand and Jason felt the stones rumble around him.

_Oh boy,_ Jason thought. _That can’t be good._

Percy flung his first in the direction of Jason tethered to the wall and Jason was hit with a sudden jet of water so powerful he was worried his skin might peel off. After a few seconds, he could breathe again, but was absolutely soaked. If he had been wearing clothes it might not have been so bad, but his skin was suddenly so _raw._ If he wasn’t sure he was already dead from embarrassment, it was happening now. He could literally feel his dick shrinking and cowering in fear, much like Jason himself wanted to.

Percy didn’t seem fazed at all, just watched Jason pointedly. The nearest robed man stepped back over to Jason, knife back out. Before he could make a move, Nico appeared at the man’s shoulder.

“I’ll take that,” he offered, pleasantly enough. His outstretched hand and his fierce gaze did not make it look like a suggestion. The man handed the knife over and the men in the brown robes retreated to the other side of the room.

Nico turned his attention back to Jason. He dragged the tip of the blade from Jason’s shoulder to the inside of his elbow, making a tiny red line where the pressure wasn’t quite enough to break the skin. He very slowly repeated this process on Jason’s other arm, his chest, his shoulders, his hips, his legs, before circling back up to Jason’s stomach. He drew the knife pointedly downward – if Jason had been losing himself in the feel of the blade (which he totally hadn’t, obviously), he was snapped back to reality as he realized where that blade was headed. He tried his best to look down, but that was nearly impossible.

The blade withdrew, narrowing missing Jason’s most prized body part.

Jason tried to regulate his breathing, but Percy hit him with another jet of water only seconds later. This time the water lasted a little longer. It was followed by the knife again, each time getting closer and closer to castrating him. After nearly an hour of this, Jason was really starting to wear out. His skin was bright pink and completely raw. Every touch made him want to scream. His legs were on the verge of giving out. His wrists were rubbed so raw they were bleeding. Finally, everything seemed to stop.

There was no sound except for water dripping off of Jason’s extremities and his ragged breathing.

Jason managed to look up, and everyone was gone except for Percy. His gaze was concern mixed with determination. He held out Jason’s Imperial gold gladius, hilt first.

Jason squinted at the son of the sea god as though he were an idiot. He gestured upwards at his shackled hands. Percy waved a hand towards one of the walls insistently and the shackles came undone, dropping Jason to the ground. His knees immediately buckled and he hit the stone floor hard. Percy was still standing in front of him, hand extended.

“Get up, Jason Grace. Take your sword.”

Jason struggled to his feet, still dripping wet and stark naked. He took the hilt from Percy and straightened up, feeling much more confident with a blade in his hands. Percy whistled appreciatively, giving Jason a very slow once over.

“Never thought I’d see you buck naked with a sword, but I do enjoy the view, Grace.”

Jason rolled his eyes and stood stock still, waiting for whatever the hell was coming next. Percy was a flirt all the time, that wasn’t new. Jason just never let himself succumb to it. On the one hand, Percy flirted with everyone (and everything) that moved. He was convinced it was how he had scored Annabeth, but everyone knew she had taken pity on his poor attempts at wooing her. After they separated, Percy had taken up flirting again. He had gotten better at it, but now it was aimed at everyone. That didn’t mean Jason didn’t appreciate the frequent compliments from his best friend, but he knew better than to take them seriously. Percy only really hooked up with women. Sure, there had been a boy or two from the Aphrodite cabin, but Jason was sure they hadn’t meant much. Even if there _was_ something more than sex with those boys, Jason wasn’t about to let his guard down around Percy, especially since he knew Percy better than anyone. If Jason took a compliment to heart, Percy would rag on him and never let him live it down. _Kind of like now,_ he thought, remembering his currently very naked situation.

Jason, however, hadn’t dated or fooled around with anyone since Piper left. She was traveling the world on her own, discovering her own powers and sometimes teaming up with the Hunters of Artemis. Jason had been worried at first, but she was more than capable of taking care of herself. When she came back last summer and broke up with him, he wasn’t exactly surprised. It didn’t make him love her any less, he just had to let her go. And she went.

Now, Jason stood there, completely naked and soaking wet, holding his sword, and being gawked at by Percy Jackson. _Gods help me_ , he thought.


	3. Chapter 3

Jason stood firmly in place, glaring daggers at his sponsor, Percy.

Percy just smiled nonchalantly, as though forcing his best friend into a torture chamber to be stripped naked and blasted with water and touched with blades and then handed his own sword was normal behavior.

“Like I said, Jason, this is about making hard decisions. Especially when you are at your most vulnerable.”

Percy stepped back into the shadows, where Nico materialized to shadow travel him somewhere else. Jason knew better than to try to yell at this point. He just gripped his gladius, trying to will himself to believe that he wasn’t naked. He took stock of the room again, everything still in place. On the other side of the room, opposite where the men had come in the first time was another corridor.

It looked exactly the same, but standing in the doorway was a little girl, no more than twelve years old. She looked terrified, and Jason couldn’t blame her. She was facing a very naked teenage boy with a large sword in an underground stone room. He felt angry that someone had roped her into this.

“Please, help me,” she whimpered, stumbling to the ground. Jason jumped forward, trying to grab her, but she disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the room. He whirled around and she was still on the floor, just in a different place. Around them, the floor opened up and skeletal creatures started to emerge, swords and spears drawn. Jason went into full battle mode. His bones felt weak as noodles and his skin was screaming, but he didn’t have a choice. Clearly this was some sort of test. He jumped in front of the little girl, slicing down one of the dead warriors as he did so.

_Clearly this is Nico’s handiwork_ , he thought. _Which means these soldiers are very real and could very well hurt me._

He swung his gladius forward and starting trying to clear the area. More and more soldiers poured forward while the little girl got up and wandered the room, right into the path of danger multiple times. Every time Jason tried to touch her or move her out of the way, she vanished and appeared somewhere else. It was as though there were many little girls all over the place, causing Jason to change positions and sprint every direction at once.

He spent the better part of an hour fending off an onslaught of dead warriors, in the back of mind impressed that Nico could continue summoning them. _Maybe Hazel taught him some new tricks¸_ he thought.

When he finally sliced down the last of the skeletal warriors and no more seemed to be crawling up from the grave, he allowed himself a second to breathe. He had forgotten that he was butt-ass naked, having only taken a few scratches across his back and arms and chest throughout the ordeal. The little girl smiled up at him, saying a brief “Thanks!” before disappearing into thin air.

Jason was silently relieved, and let his exhausting overcome him. He hit the ground on his knees, gladius dead at his side. He was breathing so heavily he thought he might pass out. After a minute or two of prolonged, dark silence, he heard someone step out of the shadows in front of him.

“Good job, Grace. Let’s take a rest for the night.”

Percy helped Jason to his feet and walked him back down the hallway towards his own room. As soon as they entered that tiny cell space, the wall closed back up behind them. Jason clearly wasn’t getting out.

He sat down on the world’s most uncomfortable bed again, and found it much more comfortable than he remembered. He lay down on his back, breathing heavily and pointedly avoiding eye contact with Percy.

“You’ll be okay, bro. Just relax.” Percy kneeled at Jason’s side, pulling a vial of gross green _something_ out of his pocket. Percy began applying the liquid to Jason’s cuts and immediately Jason felt better. He kept this up until all of Jason’s wounds were tingling and feeling better. His skin overall was still very raw, though.

Apparently, Percy had anticipated this as well. He pulled out a much larger jar of what looked like blue Vaseline and started to rub it over Jason’s chest and stomach. Jason tried to protest but all he could manage was a weak “no” and pushing Percy’s hand away.

Percy seemed unbothered and just smiled. “I know it sucks dude. This will help. Like I said, I’m your sponsor. I gotta make sure you make it out of this alive. No matter what it takes, Jace.”

He continued spreading the gel over Jason’s arms and legs, pointedly avoiding his nether regions.

“Maybe you could uh, do that part yourself, if you want,” Percy said, awkwardly gesturing towards Jason’s dick.

Jason grunted in agreement and tried to sit up to do it himself. He didn’t make it very far without wincing painfully and lying back down. Percy immediately grabbed his friend’s head and cradled it instead of letting it hit the stone bench.

“Everyone is gone for the night except me and Nico,” he said quietly. “I promise I’m not going to hurt you.” Percy took another handful of the gel and very gently started spreading it over Jason’s hips and moving towards his crotch. Jason was mortified that he had to have someone help him with this, but he was too exhausted to do more than blush furiously.

“It’s okay dude. It’ll help. I promise.” Percy sounded so sincere Jason almost didn’t care that the older boy had his hand on his dick. It wasn’t like he was being particularly sexual, just trying to get all the skin covered in gel. Right?

Percy did slide his hand around Jason’s entire cock once, the handful of gel cool and soothing to the skin. He seemed to be absorbed in what he was doing and only glanced at Jason’s face once. Jason willed himself to stay flaccid, but it was an impossible task when someone had a hand around your dick and you were butt ass naked.

Percy smiled politely and looked back at Jason’s face. “Totally normal dude. Happened to me too.”

Jason relaxed a tiny bit, but tried to keep avoiding eye contact with Percy. After a few minutes, Percy was done and left Jason’s skin alone. Jason was tingling all over, feeling his skin revitalizing itself and soothing the raw burn he felt all over. In a few hours, he might feel better than he had before this whole ordeal had started.

Percy leaned over him, looking serious. “If anyone asks, this never happened. I’m not supposed to intervene on your behalf. I’m certainly not supposed to show up in your room and rub you down with a healing salve. Though I won’t say I minded,” he added, winking and making a pointed gesture towards Jason’s dick. At this point, Jason felt strong enough to sit up on his elbows.

“Then why would you?”

“Because I care about you, stupid. I know this sucks. And I know you don’t _really_ need to prove yourself. Not to me, anyway.”

Jason didn’t know how to respond, but Percy decided to take another measure to throw Jason off. He leaned down and kissed Jason on the lips again, a good bit more forceful than before, this time putting a hand to Jason’s cheek.

Jason pulled back with a start. “What the hell is going on?” he asked, quietly as he dared with more meaning than he usually would have.

“I’m trying to make a point to you, idiot. Go to sleep. You’re going to need it.”

Percy got up and backed away, looking at Jason with an expression mixed with sadness, pity, and admiration. Jason was almost scared of what was to come. Percy stepped back into the shadows where Nico appeared, taking them both away with shadow travel.

Jason laid back down before he noticed that his clothes had reappeared in his cell on the floor beside his stone bed. He almost got up to put them on, but decided it didn’t matter. _What’s the point if I’m just going to have to take them off again tomorrow?_ He wondered.

Hours later, he woke with a start.

There was that silver blade again, this time slapped against his chest. He opened his eyes and the men in the brown robes were pulling him up off of his stone cot and pushing him through the dark hallway again.

+

The next two days (nights? Jason couldn’t be sure) were much the same. Hours of water and knife torture followed by fighting for his life completely naked for a mysterious little girl that kept disappearing.

On the third night (day?), as Jason was picking up his sword to fight again, the little girl was joined by some friends. Instead of one little girl teleporting around he had to protect at least six other twelve year olds, and the skeleton warriors were getting more and more insistent. Instead of staying dead, sometimes they got back up and kept coming.

By the time his third ordeal was over, Jason truly felt like he was about to melt into a pool of liquid and slip through the cracks of the stone floor. But just like every night, Percy showed up to lead him to his bed and treat his wounds. Every night, Percy’s treatment got more vigorous and his kiss goodnight was more adamant. By this night, Jason was pretty sure Percy was trying to woo him while also torturing him and forcing him to fight naked.

It just did not click in his head. Nothing made any sense. When Percy was done applying the salve and healing Jason as best he could, instead of getting up and leaving like he always did, he backed up and spoke to Nico for a few seconds, who had clearly come to collect him. Nico shook his head firmly and seemed to try to fight Percy, but the son of the sea god was not having it. Nico finally shrugged and threw up his hands, backing away and disappearing again through the shadows. Percy came over and forced Jason up off of the cot.

Jason was having a hard time controlling his limbs at this point, his skin raw but trying slowly to heal. Once Percy had him leaning against a wall, he looked pointedly into the corner until Nico reappeared, this time carrying what look liked a mattress.

Nico laid his burden down onto the stone cot, before giving Percy a disapproving look and disappearing again. Percy laid Jason back down on the mattress, which Jason felt like was a cloud gifted to him from the gods. A real mattress, with springs and a comfortable pillow top felt like literal Heaven after his stone cot.

Once Percy had Jason lying down again, he slipped onto the mattress himself, lying next to his friend.

“Sorry about the last few days, Jason,” he said quietly into the air.

“Mmmm,” Jason murmured back.

“You’re doing really well. Everyone is super impressed you haven’t given up yet.”

Jason grunted and looked at the ceiling. _What the hell was Percy doing?_

Percy didn’t say anything else just yet, simply lying next to Jason and quietly humming. Jason didn’t recognize the tune, but it was soothing. Pretty soon, he was drifting off to sleep, only vaguely aware that Percy hadn’t left yet. Instead, Percy had turned and snuggled up to his naked body, not touching him exactly, but enough that Jason could feel the heat of the demigod’s body and feel the gentle breaths across his chest. Somehow, he was less weirded out and more soothed by his friend’s presence. At least _someone_ was there.

When he woke, Percy was gone.

Apparently, he was awake before anyone else had arrived to wake him. That, at least, was a blessing. No blades to wake him up this morning (Afternoon? Night? Jason hadn’t seen the sun in days, he had no idea).

This time, he lay quite still, stretching his mind before he stretched his muscles. He felt, rather than knew, that Percy had been breaking quite a lot of rules by helping him out. The mattress was still present, which meant that either Percy had convinced the others to let him keep it, or the others didn’t know yet. Jason hoped he wouldn’t be punished for it.

Instead, he slowly got up and looked around his dark cell. He walked to the pipe jutting out of the wall and washed himself as best he could with freezing cold water that smell of a lake. _At least it’s probably clean,_ he thought. He made use of the bucket and stood again, finally accustomed to being fully naked without worrying. After everything he had been through this far, who cared?

While he was stretching his legs and arms against the stone wall, the men in brown robes returned. Jason sighed and quickly walked towards them, hoping they wouldn’t react to him having a mattress on his cot. Both men seemed to ignore this fact and waited for Jason to walk down the hallway to another day of torment.

This time, he didn’t know he was headed towards something much different.

When he arrived in the stone room with the single bench and the shackles on the wall, instead of being escorted to the wall, he was left alone. The two men in robes simply stood there at the entrance to the hallway, blocking his return. Today, things were different.

Percy entered the room from the hallway on the right, followed by Nico.

“Hello, Grace,” Percy said coldly. His eyes had a completely different story to tell, but he kept his voice as firm and condescending as possible.

“Congratulations on making it through your first trial. Today, you start part two.”

Jason winced, wondering what could come after what he had been through. His skin was recovering nicely, but his arms and legs were still weaker than he would have liked.

“Today you’re going to feel more awkward than you ever have before.”

Jason groaned. _That can’t be good._

Percy walked towards him, Jason backing up to keep room between them. Percy walked until Jason was pinned against the wall again, almost wishing for the shackles and the water and the knife.

Suddenly, many more men in brown robes appeared, filling the room quickly until the small room was completely full. He could hear the breathing of each of them; feel their unseen eyes on him.

Percy smiled politely at Jason, looking behind him at the group of men gathered closely.

“Today, you’re going to suck my dick.” His matter of fact tone was more jarring to Jason than the actual words. He wasn’t sure how to act. Shocked? Terrified? Grossed out? None of these emotions seemed to encompass how he felt.

Percy just smiled blandly at him, slowly undoing his pants and pushing them down until he was in only his underwear.

“Come on, Grace. Go to town. I know you’ve wanted this.”

Jason met Percy’s eyes, pleading to let this be a joke. No way. Blow his best friend? _Not_ gonna happen.

“I…I can’t –“

“You can. And you will. And you will be reminded not to speak until spoken to, Jason Grace.” The voice wasn’t Percy’s, but it was firm, and clearly came from one of the hooded figures.

Jason was not only terrified of the thought of doing such a thing, and the fact that he may or may not have thought about this once or twice, but the fact that literally a hundred other people were watching him made him feel like throwing up.

“Perce…” Jason mumbled, so quiet only Percy could hear it.

“Jason,” Percy spoke, a good deal louder, and much more firmly.

Jason couldn’t deny he had thought about this. He could deny anything he wanted if he were questioned by someone, even Percy, but here he was, presented with the opportunity to act out his deepest, darkest desire and he was failing, like the idiot he was. This was the most embarrassing thing he had ever been through. He would gladly take the water and the knife and the skeleton warriors again before he had to do this.

Instead of replying, Jason fell gently to his knees, pleading with Percy with his eyes.

Percy’s gaze looked both apologetic and needy at the same time.

Jason inched forward, pulling Percy closer. He gently tucked his fingers into the waistband of Percy’s underwear, pulling them down and exposing Percy’s dick to the damp air. He looked the dick up and down before looking back up at Percy. He received an encouraging nod and took his cue.

Jason wanted desperately to just get this over with. He went straight for the kill, taking the whole thing at once. His chapped lips wrapped around Percy’s cock, slurping and licking his way to the base, making the most obscene sounds he could manage. He hoped that the more ridiculous he sounded and acted, the more quickly this could over with. He licked his way from base to tip, taking Percy to the hilt again and again, his jaw stretching to the max, bobbing his head as ardently as he could.

Before long, Percy was gripping Jason’s hair, forcing him deeper down his shaft, Jason’s eyes watering as he did so. He suffered through it quietly, knowing full well he had an audience of nearly a hundred. He tried his hardest to appear the willing supplicant of this abuse, while Percy was moaning above him in ecstasy. Only a few minutes later, Percy’s legs tightened and Jason found himself swallowing as quickly as he could, not wanting to look like a weak idiot who quit halfway through a blowjob. Even though he had only had a few in his life, he knew damn well that blowjobs felt less satisfying if your partner couldn’t swallow.

He was _not_ about to be outdone by Percy Jackson.

He got up, wiping his mouth as he did so, Percy stumbling back and trying to shove his lessening hard-on back into his pants. Jason felt the eyes of all of the men in brown robes on him, a pressing feeling that made him want to crumple and cover his face. Instead, he stood proudly and licked his lips, issuing a nonverbal challenge to anyone who dared.

Percy was grinning so hard he looked like his face might crack in half.

The men in robes started to exit the room, but Percy did not move.

“Congratulations, Jason Grace. That was much better than I expected. You sure you haven’t done that before?”

Jason took this as a direct question and answered: “No, Percy. I really haven’t.”

“Well, maybe you should do that more often.”

“Shut up, Jackson.”

“As you say, Grace.” Percy managed a half bow while trying not to laugh. Nico appeared behind him, giving Jason the strangest look. Jason couldn’t tell if Nico was impressed or disgusted. _Probably disgusted,_ Jason thought. _I look like a fucking idiot._

Instead of punishing him, Percy once again handed Jason his sword. Jason took it, looking around in surprise. Instead of a crack opening in the floor to emit a bunch of skeleton warriors, he only saw ten or fifteen of the men in brown robes, all of which were drawing swords.

_Oh good,_ Jason thought. _Now I get to fight the guys who just watched me blow my best friend._

The men lunged forward, forcing Jason into a defensive mode. He wasn’t about to strike down and try to kill someone who might be a fellow demigod at camp. Even if those men were trying their hardest to slice Jason to pieces.

He kept them all at bay, defending himself as perfectly as he would have against a bunch of clowns with swords. Luckily, none of these men were particularly skilled with a sword. Jason kept parrying and slapping with the flat of his blade, bolstering the men back for at least an hour. None of them seemed to tire or weaken despite Jason’s insistent blows.

Eventually, they backed off and retreated to the far edges of the room. This time, Nico stepped forward from the darkness and addressed Jason.

“Well done, Grace. But tonight isn’t over. Get on your knees.”

His voice was as icy as ever. Jason couldn’t remember at this point if Nico always sounded like that, or if this was him being particularly hostile.

Instead of arguing or asking, Jason fell quietly to his knees, his gladius falling to his side again.

“Get on your hands and knees.”

Jason obliged, his sword completely abandoned now. He was completely naked, on his hands and knees for the world to see, his head lowered to the ground in defeat. He knew better than to argue by now. He had had enough slaps with the flat of a silver blade to discourage that attitude.

Nico stalked quietly around him, apparently examining him. After a lap or two, he paused. Jason couldn’t see, but he assumed he must have gestured to have some of them men come closer. Jason suddenly felt surrounded, and he could see rows of the same black shoes in all directions. He could feel himself blushing again. He really thought he should past any sort of embarrassment by now, but there was something about exposing his most private part, his ass, that still gave him shame. He felt, rather than saw, Nico walk behind him. He felt the younger boy pause before feeling a vicious slap on his ass. His left butt cheek was suddenly on fire, the sting of the slap ricocheting throughout his body. He didn’t move however, just let the offense go unchallenged.

After a few seconds, he felt Nico walk off before he was assaulted by another slap, this time on his right butt cheek. He guessed what was coming. He cringed inwardly but stuck his chin out proudly, determined to suffer through it with no complaints, better, for sure, than he thought Percy would have done.

He lost count after fifty-seven slaps to his ass, his knees shaking in pain and his back arching uncomfortably as he tried desperately to remain as upright as possible. He was not going to let Percy rub this in his face. He was going to take every single assault with a proud and upright face, making sure Percy knew that Jason was the stronger of the two.

After ninety-eight harsh, unyielding slaps to his ass, the strikes stopped. Jason withered, his resolve fading as he fell forward.

“You have been punished by the entirety of this brotherhood for being a proud and unassuming member of demigod society. Perhaps now you will remain humble and remember who you are protecting. Do not walk from here with pride, Jason Grace. Walk from here in your deepest humility and understand that we are no better than the ones we protect.”

Jason couldn’t recognize the voice. It sounded almost familiar, but as though it was being purposely distorted so that he wouldn’t recognize the person it belonged to.

That night, he climbed into bed alone. His mattress from Percy felt gloriously soft, but he had to lay on his front, as his ass was so red and swollen he couldn’t bear the pain of facing any other way. Just as he was sure he was going to pass out, he felt someone appear beside him, and recognized Percy’s breathing as he climbed onto the mattress beside him. Percy draped an arm over Jason, carefully avoiding where the younger boy was raw and sensitive. Instead of recoiling like he normally would have, Jason relaxed into the feeling and turned in the slightest, letting Percy bury his face into the back of Jason’s neck.

“You did well, Jace,” Percy whispered into his skin. “I’m proud of you.”

This time, Jason woke up with Percy on top of him, the olive skin pressed firmly against his own. Percy was drooling slightly onto Jason’s shoulder, but somehow Jason felt more safe than afraid. He turned so that Percy could rest his face against Jason’s chest instead, and fell back into a contended sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little interim from the torture. This one's a bit shorter, as I'm trying my best to write after work and not fall asleep.

Unfortunately, instead of waking up still contended with a friend in his bed, Jason Grace woke alone and sore. Very sore.

He rolled over, wincing as the mattress rubbed against his butt cheeks. This was _not_ somewhere Jason was used to being so sore. His ass felt like it was on fire, so he just lay face down and tried really hard to think of anything but the pain. Like the fact that Percy had slept at least part of the night there.

_What was going on with that?_ he wondered. It didn’t make sense for Percy to bully and lead the torture against him every time he was in the gods-forsaken other room, but be sensitive and gentle when Jason was led back to his cell. _Maybe Percy was feeling bad?_ Jason scoffed into his mattress. If Percy was anything, he was a hardened fighter. A true demigod hero who had proven himself time and time again. _Then again,_ he mused, _I can’t say I’ve never seen Percy be goofy and funny, too._ Jason let these thoughts mull around in his head to distract him from his raw backside.

_But I’m a Roman trained soldier. I don’t need coddling and protection. I am sharpened on Imperial gold. I was praetor of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata. I slew the titan –_

Jason ceased that train of thought. He could almost hear Percy rolling his eyes at him. He and Percy were similar enough that perhaps the son of the sea god also had a softer side that Jason hadn’t seen yet. _Or he could be lulling you into lowering your guard for more torture._ Jason turned his head to the side, furrowing his brow. No, Percy wouldn’t do that. They were best friends. This was his training talking, trying to form a logical guess at a strategy as though Percy were some attractive monster instead of his friend.

_Attractive._ Jason rolled his own eyes at himself. _I sound absolutely ridiculous._

He sighed, wiggling his legs to get his ass further in the air and away from the mattress. At least the air couldn’t make his skin feel like it was peeling itself off in tiny little bacon strips.

_Percy is too busy to worry about how I feel,_ he reassured himself. _Surely that must be true_. After all, Percy was a Head Counselor. And he spent plenty of time going back and forth to New Rome. Jason assumed he must be assisting Chiron or Annabeth with some project or another. The boy was hardly ever still, much less not working on some development or another. Jason caught himself halfway through a wistful sigh at that.

_I can’t be thinking like this. I am sharpened on Imperial Gold! I –_

He stopped himself again. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t worth thinking about. He had to worry about his present situation, not the possible motivations of his best friend who may or may not care about how Jason felt or how he was doing or how he was going to make it through another few days of torture.

As if on cue, the shadows in the corner rippled and Percy himself appeared, Nico on his heels. Nico was looking more irritated than ever, as if he was far too busy to be acting as Percy’s personal shadow-valet.

“How’s that ass feeling, Grace?” Percy’s smile was teasing, but his eyes were not. Jason’s thoughts had gotten him riled up about too much and hadn’t realized that he must clearly be making a spectacle of himself, face down on his mattress, ass pointing skyward.

“Fine,” he replied shortly, trying to quickly get into a sitting position. That did not go well. He immediately winced and tried not to scream.

Percy moved to his side quickly, pushing Jason back down and trying to roll him over. “Don’t! I’m sorry, I forgot the salve last night.” He sounded genuine, eyeing Jason with pity.

Jason didn’t reply, just moved backwards as gracefully as he could without letting himself sit down on the mattress, avoiding Percy’s hands. Percy looked hurt for a second before composing himself.

“What? You don’t want this Jackson home-made remedy? I promise it’ll help.”

He set the salve down on the mattress as if it was a peace offering.

“Why is this happening Percy? Why are you doing this to me? What the _fuck_ is going on and why is everyone okay with this?” Jason was suddenly too full of questions and doubt and wasn’t sure which question he wanted answered first. Luckily, Percy paused and considered Jason’s face.

“I’ll answer as best as I can, but I can’t promise anything. I know this is confusing and weird and probably seems ridiculous to you, but it’s kind of a Greek tradition. It’s called _periasmos_. Essentially it’s a test. Although I’ve also heard the word translated as ‘temptation.’ Take that as you will.” He smiled a tight lipped smile. “There’s a long tradition of it in ancient Greece, which kind of fell to us after that. At least, as far as we know. Obviously there’s no record of it, since it’s all underground…” he trailed off, looking at the wall behind Jason’s head for moment before focusing back on his friend.

“What’s most important for you to know?”

Jason considered that. He wasn’t very satisfied with Percy’s first answer, so he considered what to ask next. “Why does it seem like you’re the one in charge here? Are you the one deciding how to torture me?”

Percy sighed heavily. “I’m your sponsor Jason. It’s my job to kind of lead you through this as best I can. I’d like to think I’m getting better at it,” he added, looking over his shoulder at Nico, who only shrugged impassively. Percy grimaced. “That’s reassuring,” he muttered before continuing:

“Just like mine did for me, I have to be the one you see, the one who kind of…leads it? I guess? I think it’s supposed to make it harder for whoever goes through this. It is, first and foremost, a _test_ , like I said. To see how you hold up on under pressure. To see how you fight in uncomfortable circumstances, especially when you’re at your weakest. To expose yourself to your limits, knowing that at the end, we cannot hide anything from one another. In order to survive, we have to work together. I know it goes against the whole ‘hero’ thing, but let’s be honest. We all would have died if we had gone on any of our quests alone.” His smile was grim, but honest. Jason took that in stride. He wasn’t wrong. Jason couldn’t imagine where he would be without Percy, or anyone from the _Argo II_. Probably dead in a ditch before he got out of New York.

“Okay…” Jason began. “I guess I get that. To an extent. But you didn’t answer the second part. Are you the one choosing what happens to me?” He raised an eyebrow, trying to indicate his most recent embarrassment.

“Um…well,” Percy hesitated. “Sort of? Some things are kind of categorized? I uh…” he trailed off again, apparently deciding how to word his response. “Obviously, Nico, helped!” he said brightly.

Nico looked affronted and as though he was about to object. Instead, he closed his mouth and formed a thin lipped smile. He shrugged impassively again. Jason remembered the skeletons from two days prior and nodded. “Thanks for trying to kill me,” he said, as bitterly as he could manage. Nico just shrugged again, his face as unreadable as always.

“Oh please, you wouldn’t have died, Jason.” Percy rolled his eyes. “I mean, probably.”

“Probably?”

“Eh, you’re strong enough to withstand some skeletal warriors. I knew you’d be fine.” He tried to look confident but that quickly became sheepish under Jason’s glare.

“Good to know my life is actually at stake here.”

“Quit your whining and come here. Unless you want to rub this salve on your own ass?” Percy held up the jar again, holding it equidistant between the two demigods on the worn out mattress. Jason snatched the jar from Percy and leaned up on his knees, pointedly not looking at Percy.

“I’m fine, thank you.” He might be raw and on the verge of tears from moving again, but he was not about to let Percy Jackson rub anything on his ass and treat him like an infant child. “I’m an adult,” he said, putting the first glob onto his skin and wincing at the cold feeling.

“I see that.”

“Shut up, Jackson. I don’t need you to take care of me.”

At this, Percy did not respond. He simply looked sadly at Jason’s concentrated face. After a moment’s silence, Nico coughed.

“Uh, did you have any more questions, Jason? I think we have a little more time.”

“Time before what?” Jason asked immediately, pausing in his liberal application of the salve.

“Uh. Time.” Percy’s answer was short but sounded like he was avoiding the topic. Jason figured he’d better use his time wisely, in that case. He finished covering the affected area and got to his feet. It was then that he remembered that he was completely naked.

He suddenly felt self-conscious and tried to sit back down to cover himself a bit. Instead, he ended up face down again, lying parallel to where Percy sat. The healing part clearly hadn’t kicked in yet. _Why am I suddenly embarrassed to be naked in front of Percy? It’s not like he hasn’t seen me naked the last several days._ But those times hadn’t been this personal, he rationed with himself. _But he slept in your bed…cot…cell, whatever, last night._ But I was too exhausted to move, he tried to reason. _But Nico is here!_ Same point, he’s also seen me the past few days.

Jason continued to argue with himself mentally for a few more seconds, trying to fight down the blush that he could feel building in his face.

“Uh, Jason?” Percy asked, bringing him back to the present.

“Oh. Right. Um…so three more days?” he asked, unable to think of a good question.

“Yep,” was the only reply he got.

“So, who was your sponsor?”

Percy was silent. Nico actually looked sadder than usual. It was long enough that Jason turned his head to look Percy in the eyes. He was surprised to see the sadness there, so unusual for the boy that was constantly cracking dumb jokes and facing death with a grin. Jason suddenly understood.

“Luke?”

Percy slowly nodded without looking up.

“I’m sorry, Perce. I…I shouldn’t have asked. I should have known…I –“

“It’s fine, Jason. It was before he was turned by Kronos. It was before...” He paused. “After I was claimed by my father, Luke knew somehow that I would be the demigod that old prophecy would be about. Not Thalia, your sister. Not you, obviously, because we didn’t know you existed. But yeah, he took me under his wing. I was too young to undergo _periasmos_ , but he knew I would make it through. How do you think I got so good with a sword?” He smiled sadly, trying to make a joke.

“I don’t know, Perce, I still think I can beat you.” Jason tried to lighten the atmosphere. He knew an affront to his skills would be enough to bring Percy out of his reverie.

“You wish, Grace,” Percy said, playfully shoving Jason, unmistakably trying to force the sadness from his voice. “One of these days we’ll do real combat and we’ll see.”

“And on that day, I’ll prove it,” Jason promised.

“Like I said, we’ll see.” He was silent for a moment, considering Jason with a thoughtful look. He almost looked…regretful. “You do know I’m trying to look out for you, right? Like…I don’t want you to get hurt, or anything.”

Jason was immediately defensive. “Yeah. I’m sure.” He clammed up, facing the wall again.

Percy sighed. “Don’t get all _Roman praetor_ on me, Jay. I know you think you’re too strong to need help. You’re a soldier, blah blah blah. Everyone needs help sometimes. Even when we don’t think we need it. _Especially_ when we don’t think we need it.”

Jason eyed the wall suspiciously. “You’re sounding a lot like Annabeth right now.”

“You are so stubborn sometimes, you know that?”

“Says you?” Jason actually laughed and looked over again. Percy grinned.

“Yeah. And that’s saying a lot.”

Jason looked up and noticed Nico was gone. At some point he had faded back into the shadows and left without a sound. Jason felt bad he hadn’t noticed.

Percy nodded without turning around, clearly interpreting Jason’s surprised look. “Yeah, he left. I think he’s feeling jealous that I’m spending more time with you than I did with him. I didn’t know what on earth I was doing when I sponsored him. I messed up, as usual. I shouldn’t have left him alone so much. I didn’t know what to say, then. But, you know as well as anyone that I can be a pretty oblivious idiot. Then again, so can _you_ ,” he added pointedly.

Jason raised an eyebrow. Percy just grinned in his goofy way and fell forward onto the mattress, lying down on his stomach next to Jason.

There was a moment of quiet tension while Jason waited.

“I’m _trying_ to show you that I care about you. Idiot.” Percy stared straight ahead, an uncharacteristic redness creeping up his neck. Jason was very quiet for a moment, looking down at the mattress and trying to furiously comprehend Percy’s words.

_Cares about me? Wait, what?_ Jason’s mind raced. _I mean, of course, we’re friends. But cares? Like cares how? Cares enough to make me suck his dick in front of a crowd? That doesn’t seem like caring._ _Cares enough to show up in your room every night and try to heal you,_ he reminded himself. _Cares enough to have orchestrated my embarrassment? Cares enough to try to make it up to you every night. Cares like –_

“Earth to Jason. You in there, man?” Percy was looking concernedly at his best friend, his faces inches away.

“Um. Yes. Yeah. I – uh. Yeah.” Jason didn’t meet Percy’s gaze. There was another moment of silent tension.

To break it, Percy leaned over and kissed Jason on the cheek.

“You just process that however long you need, Golden Boy. I’ll be here to take care of you whenever you’re ready. Even if you don’t think you need it.” Without waiting for a response, Percy pushed himself up off the mattress and sighed again. Jason waited a few seconds before turning to look, but Percy had vanished down the dark hallway at the other end of the room. Unless Nico had come to collect him that quickly? Jason wasn’t sure, but his thoughts were still on Percy’s words. He didn’t know how to feel just yet, but he at least felt like he could take on another day of mortifying embarrassment, if it meant he could have another conversation like that with Percy.


End file.
